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Pau Gasol tops list of NBA stars most committed to National Team
So which NBA players deserve praise for cutting into their vacation time to spend their summers on the court? Using the FIBA website and other sources, we tracked the players who have spent the most years representing their countries in international competitions. Among players with at least one NBA All-Star appearance, No. 1 is Pau Gasol, widely regarded as the GOAT of FIBA tournaments, followed by his brother Marc and Slovenian star Goran Dragic. While the Gasol brothers and Tony Parker, also high on this list, were always competing for medals, some other stars did not and still devoted plenty of time to FIBA tournaments. Dirk Nowitzki, who rarely had teammates anywhere near his level and only won two medals with Germany, would be a prime example.
Tony Parker: 'My dream is to coach in the NBA'
Tony Parker: When I stepped onto the court, it reminded me of my basketball camps when I was in Fécamp. Last October, after my first discussion with Pop (Gregg Popovich, his coach at the Spurs between 2001 and 2018) , I felt this strong desire. I asked him for advice, the Spurs opened the doors to me in January, February, March, where I was able to observe everything over seven or ten days. Then, I had a long discussion with Zizou (Zinédine Zidane) and Titi (Thierry Henry), who convinced me to do the DES. Because in itself, I don't need it to coach in the NBA. And my dream is to coach in the NBA. But I said to myself, why not go back to school (smile) ! This year, I'm going to take the DES. I hope I'll pass it in May, and then start a coaching career.
You talk about coaching, but you're already talking about coaching in the NBA! Tony Parker: I'm not closing any doors. There's the NBA, the NBA Europe that's coming up. For now, I'm telling myself: I'm going to get my diploma and we'll see in May, depending on the opportunities. But the ultimate goal, of course, would be to go and coach in the NBA. The dream is to be a head coach one day in the NBA. I've always dreamed big. "I was approached by a few clubs. But I preferred to choose to prepare myself, to get my diplomas."
Bill Simmons: I wouldn't be surprised NBA Europe starts in the 2026-27 season
Bill Simmons on NBA Europe: I think this goes London, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Paris, Berlin and a Greek team as your definite seven better in this. I think Adam Silver has those seven in his pocket and I don’t know who the Greek team is yet. Maybe you could add Tony Parker's French team. You could add the Istanbul team. You could add Manchester City. All sudden, I'm at 10. Maybe there's an Israeli team down the road. Maybe there's a third Spain team. Who knows? But they could take this right away. And if you look at the way the Euroleague is, where you basically have this ownership. It's called Euroleague Commercial Assets. That's the company that runs the League of voting rights on league rules, financials, TV deals, etc. And then there's a B license that that's a one year thing that you got to play your way in based on results, and then a C license that's like, basically a wild card. They could challenge this. They could offer the sponsorship expertise better, TV deals. They could shoehorn some of the TV stuff into their things. They could do the schedule so that it complements the NBA schedule correctly and I think this is going to be like, I honestly wouldn't be surprised that this was going in the 26-27 season.
Texas’ splashiest celebrity mansion — with the state’s, and possibly the country’s, largest private residential water park — is back on the market for $16.5 million, The Post can reveal. Since 2009, this 53-acre estate located in the San Antonio suburb of Boerne has served as the US address of French-American NBA star Tony Parker. Now, the retired San Antonio Spurs point guard and six-time NBA All-Star is ready to part with the 10-bedroom, 12-bathroom, 13,300-square-foot mansion he poured his personality into. “My vision was to build something where I can host my family and my friends, and create memories,” Parker told The Post. “I like to host and when my friends come from France, you know it’s a long flight, so I wanted a place where they can come for long stays.”
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Tony Parker recently appeared on Kai Cenat's Twitch stream marathon for his collective 'Any Means Possible' (AMP) and spoke to his friends about Kobe Bryant while showing them his own house. "He started to trash-talk to me in French during the Playoffs. So he learned the language to trash-talk me in French. Because you know Kobe used to guard me, they put Kobe on me all the time. And he would start talking in French, I was like 'Wow!'." When one of Cenat's friends asked him what he said, Parker hesitated in revealing the details. "Nah! I'm not gonna say it, it's crazy stuff," said Parker. "He learned the language just to talk sh**?" said Cenat in shock. "It didn't work, but mad respect that he learned the language," concluded Parker.
Tony Parker has confirmed a rebuilding phase for ASVEL Villeurbanne. In a long interview with Le Progrès, the team president listed multiple departures: Neal Sako is heading to Valencia after using his EuroLeague out clause, while Théo Maledon has reportedly signed a “big contract” in Madrid. Paris Lee and Joffrey Lauvergne are considered too expensive to retain, and André Roberson, who Parker “would love to keep”, is unlikely to stay due to rising EuroLeague salaries and the influence of Dubai-based teams.
The two leagues have had a frosty relationship over the last year after the EuroLeague turned down the NBA’s offer to partner with EuroLeague to run a European basketball league. But the relationship seems to have thawed in recent months. Former San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, the owner of ASVEL, a French basketball club in the EuroLeague, has served as an intermediary between the two sides, and they have become more open to talks about their collective future.
NBA: Players this century with 25+ points in an NBA Finals game at age 22 or younger ⤵️ Kobe Bryant Tony Parker LeBron James Kawhi Leonard And now… Bennedict Mathurin It’s a postseason career-high for Mathurin, also becoming the youngest player since 1971 to score 25+ off the bench in a Finals game 🔥
In their efforts to establish new leagues from scratch, the NBA and GBBL are effectively operating in parallel with a view to potentially launching in time for the 2026-27 season — though in an interview with The Guardian last week, Aivazoglou declined to commit to that timeframe. The summer of 2026 is the moment when EuroLeague’s current licence agreement with its 13 shareholder clubs expires, providing them with a window to opt out. Real Madrid and Barcelona are widely believed to be keeping their options open regarding a potential NBA defection, as is ASVEL Villeurbanne, the French club majority owned by San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker.
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Danny Green: "Then Kawhi had the injury, Tony [Parker] said some things in the media, then Pop said some things. And from what I understand, Uncle Dennis was like, 'Nah, we’re not doing that.' Kawhi came back, played nine games, and then suddenly it was, 'You’ve got to talk to Kawhi’s people.' To them, that felt disrespectful. And then you had Tony saying stuff that they felt crossed the line. Next thing you know, the word was: 'He’s not putting on a San Antonio Spurs uniform again.'" "Again, I’ve never asked Kawhi directly what happened. Maybe one day we’ll chop it up after he’s done hooping. But I was fortunate enough to play with him in San Antonio and again in Toronto—we had a great year."
On Tuesday, two days after the end of the EuroLeague Final Four, a EuroLeague committee consisting per Eurohoops sources of ASVEL owner and French basketball icon Tony Parker, Maccabi owner Danny Federman, Fenerbahce GM Mauricio Gherardini, Milan GM Christos Stavropoulos and Bayern Munich consultant Marco Pesic will meet in Geneva with FIBA and the NBA, to discuss the future of European basketball competitions.
As usual, the EuroLeague Final Four will bring together a host of notable basketball figures, and this year’s edition in Abu Dhabi will be no exception. More than 20 distinguished guests are expected to attend, including several NBA legends and EuroLeague all-time greats. Basketball icons such as Tony Parker, Vlade Divac, Dino Radja, and Toni Kukoc will be present to witness the first-ever EuroLeague Final Four held outside of Europe.
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